Rich Jones thinks everyone who’s looking to break free of addiction should have a Frankie in their lives.

Jones, the new executive director of Faces and Voices of Recovery Greenville, abused drugs and alcohol for 17 years, but it was Frankie P., a mechanic from Pittsburgh, who showed him another way.

Frankie, “one of the grumpiest little Italian guys you’ll ever meet,” struck up a conversation with Jones at a 12-step meeting and helped walk him through recovery, Jones says.

FAVOR’s goal is something similar. The organization, which recently opened its headquarters on Woodruff Road, offers support for substance abusers and their families, through referrals, meetings, seminars and recovery coaches, who are trained in the best ways to help a person gain control over his or her substance-use disorder.

Frankie had two years of sobriety when he and Jones met 12 years ago. One night he chatted with Jones at a meeting and offered to pick him up for the next meeting.

“He went out of his way,” Jones recalls. “We didn’t call it that, (but) he was my recovery coach. I never asked him for help. I was struggling with the traditional stuff at that point. I wasn’t getting a sponsor, I was going to meetings once in a while, and Frankie went out of his way to take me under his wing. ... And I guess that’s how we would see our recovery coaches, being Frankie.”

A Pennsylvania native, Jones came to FAVOR from a job as Director of Community Recovery Residences at Pavillon Treatment Center, an inpatient drug and alcohol rehab program based in Mill Spring, N.C. His most recent position involved running the organization’s satellite programs in Greenville.

Jones says he followed a typical trajectory into substance abuse, starting with alcohol at age 14 and moving on to drugs.

He graduated from college and went to work in the mental health field. But over time, his drug and alcohol use took a toll on his family.

“I was a very high-functioning person,” he says. “I still had a job; I probably had a ways to go before I hit my bottom. But if I had waited till I hit my bottom, I wouldn’t have my family now; I may not have a career. Thank God that he (Frankie) came after me rather than me having to wait till I hit my bottom and come after him.”

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At the time, Jones and wife Melissa had three children, who now range in age from 15 to 22, and a rocky marriage due to his addiction, he says. They never split up, and after Jones began his recovery, they were able to work through their problems and repair their relationship, he says.

And since then, they’ve had four more children, the youngest of whom is 6 months old.

“Four children are a direct result of recovery,” Jones says. “Those four kids would not be here if I had continued on my path.”

Connecting with Frankie was a matter of being in the right place at the right time, but recovery shouldn’t depend on coincidence, Jones says.

“I don’t think it should be like that. I don’t think it should just be a lucky person; you happen to be at the right meeting at the right time. That’s a great and wonderful thing ... but what about the people it doesn’t happen for? So let’s design FAVOR, let’s design this center and let’s train people in how to reach out, and let’s train people in how to identify those people who aren’t necessarily jumping in.”

While Jones used a traditional 12-step program, he says he realizes that approach won’t be right for everyone, which is why FAVOR works to help folks find the road that’s right for them.

For some people, that might entail group meetings; for others it could be regular phone calls with a recovery coach or a referral to a treatment center. And there are also resources for family members who are struggling with the substance abuse of loved ones. FAVOR’s services are free, which can be attractive to a person who needs help but doesn’t know where to start, he says.

As an addict, he says, “first of all, you don’t really want to talk to people. You don’t want to fill out a bunch of forms, you don’t want to go through a bunch of bureaucratic processing to talk to somebody about your problem.”

Jones’ own experiences help him in the work that FAVOR does.

“I think the first thing I bring is, and this may sound a little bit strange, but a deep level of compassion for an addict seeking recovery, for an individual seeking recovery, and a family going through that. ... I know what it’s like to live through that. I know what it’s like to have your family on the brink of being pulled apart. I also know what it’s like to have somebody who reaches out,” he says.

Jones is looking forward to seeing what FAVOR can accomplish in the coming months and years, and he’s appreciative of the support given by the Greenville community. And he’s willing to share his own tough times if it helps others to see that a different kind of life is possible.

“We embrace the joy of recovery,” Jones says. “I’m in recovery; I don’t hide that. I want people to know that. We’re not ashamed of that. I don’t walk up to people at Publix and say, ‘Hi, I’m a recovering addict. Nice to meet you,’ so they can run away or anything, but at the same time we want people to look at us and say, ‘Wow, there’s another side to this story. I don’t have to die in active addiction.’ ”